Reversal 29: Unwanted Job Offer
by Higuchimon
Summary: Johan gets the worst nightmare of a job offer that one could imagine.


**Series:** Reversal||**Story:** Unwelcome Job Offer  
**Characters:** Juudai, Johan||**Ship:** N/A (though a bit of future Juudai x Johan is implied)  
**Chapters:** 1-1||**Words:** 1,500  
**Genre:** Drama||**Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge, C13: roll 2 dice, generate 12 random words, & pick that many words (8) from the list to put into the fic.  
**Notes:** Pre-Johan's capture. That's all.  
**Summary:** Johan gets the worst nightmare of a job offer that one could imagine.

* * *

_Johan! Johan!_

Johan's eyes opened and he seized for his deck out of instinct. No other alarms rang but he'd heard that call clearly. "Emerald Turtle?"

There wasn't any sign of his deck's monsters. Nor did he feel their presence. Only dim starlight lit his room; the four gems, one set into each wall, sat there dull and extinguished.

That wasn't right. Nothing could end the spells placed on them. He didn't relax, but shifted upward, eyes shifting from the various pools of shadows. If the Gem Beasts hadn't called him – and they had, no one could fool him using their voices – then who had?

He hated it being so dark here. That was why he used four gems, to make certain there weren't any shadows here. Shadows meant _him_.

Johan opened his mouth to ask the Gem Beasts why they'd awakened him. It couldn't just be the gems going out. If that were all it was, it could wait until morning.

He never had the chance to speak. A hand snaked around his mouth and pressed against him, keeping him from speaking. A mild, silken voice whispered in his ear.

"Hello, Andersen."

Haou!

Johan struggled at once, but Haou's other arm wrapped around his arms, pinning them into place. "Now, now, it's rude to attempt to hurt a guest. I wouldn't hurt you if you were _my_ guest." A cold laugh blew against his ear. "At least not very much. And I assure you, you would like it." He bent closer. "You'd _love_ it."

Johan did his best to slam his elbow against Haou's torso, but that did very little. A firm layer of muscle prevented much damage from being dealt, even without Haou's familiar helmet and armor. Haou chuckled again, not releasing Johan by so much as a hair's breadth.

"I'm just visiting. I won't stay long."

Johan wasn't reassured by this. Somehow, Haou had entered his personal quarters, quenched his lights, and crept into Johan's very own _bed_.

His stomach churned at the thought and he clamped a mental lid on it. He struggled, but no matter how hard he writhed, Haou's arms kept him in place.

"Are you done?" Haou murmured. "I'd like to get this taken care of."

Johan would've bitten his hand if he could get his jaws open. He would've done _anything_ if he could but Haou's grip kept him positioned so he couldn't do much more than useless wiggling.

"I suppose you're done, then. First, let's get this out of the way."

Shadows stirred and something that looked a great deal like a dark hand wrapped around Johan's, tugging his deck out of there and pulling it out of his reach. Wherever the dark hand took it, Johan couldn't see it, and that didn't make him feel even the slightest better.

But Haou started talking. That didn't help either. "What I wanted to tell you is this: you're going to lose this little war. I have more forces than you, I have more time than you, and I already control three-quarters of this continent. All the most important resources are mine. I know you know this."

Johan knew it. He'd known it since he first organized the rebellion and started to receive reports of where and how much food was grown, where the best duelists came from and who they were – they were _so_ lucky to have people like Kaiser on their side – and so much else.

"What you should do is organize your people and surrender to me. All of you, of course, but you in particular." Haou shifted a little, but didn't release Johan. More as if he were getting comfortable.

The idea of Haou being comfortable in his bed, Johan wrapped in his arms, nudged Johan just that little bit more towards his stomach revolting. He kept it under control, but only by the thinnest of margins.

"I could use someone like you. You could be my champion. I disposed of the last one not that long ago. Did you ever fight him? I can't remember. Garam, it was. He started getting out of hand and thought he could challenge me." Haou chuckled, that frozen breath ghosting into Johan's ear. "He _could_ challenge me. He just didn't _win_."

Johan remembered Amon Garam. The two of them fought a few times, though never in one of the rings of death. He didn't think he would miss him, but the way Haou casually disposed of a servant sickened him.

"I can think of other tasks for you as well. But you should know, what I demand of my servants is absolute obedience. When I command, you obey. No arguments. You would get used to it very quickly, I assure you."

This time Johan managed to shake his head, shoving backwards against Haou. The action didn't free him, but Haou let loose a quiet sigh that seemed genuinely regretful.

"Still defiant, I see. Still convinced that you can win this war. You _can't_. If I have to prove it to you the hard way I will." His grip tightened. "But not now. I want you to think about this. I can – and will – take you whenever I want you. There's nothing that you can do about it. Your pretty Gem Beasts can't help either. I'm sure you've noticed I sealed them. I didn't want them to interrupt our little visit." Haou now pulled him closer. Johan could feel him breathing. "The seal will be released after I leave. You. Will. Lose. Never, ever forget that."

Johan shook his head and managed this time to twist far enough away so that he could speak. "If that means I die, then I'd rather die fighting!"

For a moment Haou stared at him, then he chuckled. "But I'm not going to kill you, Johan Andersen. I would never do that. You will be mine. You're the only one I won't kill."

He leaned in, golden eyes gleaming bright. "There are fates worse than death. And I am that fate."

Between one breath and the next, he vanished, fading into the shadows as if he'd never been there at all. A breath later, light flooded back in, almost blinding Johan even as the voices of the Gem Beasts flooded his mind once more.

Johan's stomach churned even more, and he darted for the nearest toilet, unable to hold back for another second. The Gem Beasts encircled him, not interfering in his desire to feel normal again, but reassuring him of their presence and safety.

_We have to leave here. If he can get in, it's not safe._

He stumbled back to his room, heart racing, entire body feeling as if he'd been dunked into sticky filth. He needed more than a few minutes of vomiting to make himself clean again, not after this violation of his space.

But with that initial spewing over with, he did his best to caress each Gem Beast, eager to reassure himself that they were all right.

"We are," Amethyst Cat promised him. "He just kept us from coming out or even talking to you."

Johan closed his eyes and sank down into his chair. He refused to even look at the bed right now. He wouldn't sleep for a week, he knew. No time for relaxation.

_He's… not wrong. He does have more forces than we do. And most of the farmers and herders are in his territory. We have to steal most of what we can get._

It wasn't like that elsewhere, though. He vividly remembered where he'd come from, the third largest continent of the world. If he could get back there, then perhaps they could make alliances there. They could have more warriors. More spellcasters, more healers, more tacticians.

More people who'd be able to help.

Maybe even someone who might know the answer to the most raging, burning question of his life, the question he'd had to put on hold because running a rebellion where people's lives were at risk meant a bit more right now.

Where were Yubel and Rune? Sometimes he thought he came close to forgetting what they looked like, which hurt more because they both shared his face.

_Not now,_ he told himself, refusing to let himself think too hard about the loss of his siblings. Or maybe they'd lost him. He'd never quite figured out which way it should go.

First he gathered fresh clothes and headed to the nearest bathing area. First to wash off the mental filth that came from being held by Haou. Then time to double-check the defenses and find a new place to move everyone to, preferably one that Haou wouldn't know anything about. If Haou could get into _his_ quarters, then who knew what else he could do.

Once that was taken care of, time to start sending messengers to the far distant realms. He didn't care what Haou had to say. They weren't even close to losing this war and he would never surrender.

* * *

**The End**

**Notes:** Almost done with this set of Reversal AU stories. Also, the random words I put in here were: violation, clean, relaxation, helmet, lid, mild, certain, & normal.


End file.
